• Attendance Support.pdf

Absences due to illness

Children attending school as much as they can is the best way to ensure they will achieve well and be successful through their primary education. Poor attendance will often lead to poor attainment and children leaving primary school with gaps in their knowledge and not well prepared for secondary school.

We understand that anyone can become well and we realise that this will result in some children needing to stay off school because they are not well enough to attend or due to an infectious illness which we need to prevent spreading to other children. 

There are some illnesses which may be an inconvenience but should not stop your child attending school as they can be treated using medication which can be bought from shops or pharmacies to administer before or after school. These include:

• minor coughs and common colds
• cold sores
• conjunctivitis
• hand, foot and mouth disease
• headlice
• slapped cheek syndrome
• sore throat

There are some legitimate reasons to keep your child off school if they have the following illness. These include:

• high temperature
• chicken pox (until all the spots have crusted over)
• testing positive for Covid (recommendation is three days after the test)
• impetigo
• scarlet fever (children can return 24 hours after starting antibiotics)
• vomiting and/or diarrhoea

This list is not exhaustive so if you are unsure, please call school and we will provide some advice. 

Further information can be found on the NHS website 

Other absences

School will not authorise absences for the following reasons:

• hair cuts
• shopping trips
• birthdays
• transport issues
• parent/carer working patterns 

This list is not exhaustive, it is just a few examples of reasons why children have been absent from school. 

Poor Attendance

If your child does not attend school enough and the reasons for absences are not authorised, you will be invited to meet with staff to discuss this. This will always be in a supportive way so we can help you to improve your child's attendance. 

If the patterns of poor attendance continue and you have not responded to the support the school or authority have provided, this could result in legal action being taken against you. The outcomes of this could be:

• A Parenting Order
• An Education Supervision Order
• A School Attendance Order
• A Fixed Penalty Fine
• Prosecution which means you could get a fine of up £2500, a community order or a jail sentence up to 3 months. The court also gives you a Parenting Order. 

Further information can be found on the Government website.

Term Time Holidays

Since 2013, schools have not been allowed to authorise any term-time holidays unless there exceptional circumstances why children need to be absent during term-time. We understand that holidays are usually a lot cheaper during term-time than in the school holidays but unfortunately, there is nothing that we can do about that. 

If you choose to take your child out of school during term-time, you need to complete a form and return this to the school office. 

From August 2024, the fine for school absences across the country will be £80 if paid within 21 days, or £160 if paid within 28 days. This rate is in line with inflation and is the first increase since 2012. 

In the case of repeated fines, if a parent receives a second fine for the same child within any three-year period, this will be charged at the higher rate of £160. 

Fines per parent will be capped to two fines within any three-year period. Once this limit has been reached, other action like a parenting order or prosecution will be considered. 

If you’re prosecuted and attend court because your child hasn’t been attending school, you could get a fine of up to £2,500. 

Further information about this can be found on the Government website.